Testimony begins in Dudley murder

WORCESTER 
A Webster woman told a jury Friday she saw Jose E. Colon throwing rocks at an intoxicated Aaron A. Gibeault on railroad tracks in Dudley on or about July 23, 2005.

Kristin Wilson, 31, was the first witness called to the stand by Assistant District Attorney Daniel J. Bennett in Mr. Colon’s Worcester Superior Court trial on a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of the 18-year-old Mr. Gibeault.

Mr. Colon, 29, formerly of 15 Oxford Ave., Dudley, has pleaded not guilty to the crime.

Ms. Wilson testified that she was with Mr. Gibeault, Mr. Colon, Jayser Cruz and Mr. Colon’s cousin, Maria Colon, outside the Store 24 on Main Street in Webster about 11:30 p.m. on July 22, 2005. She said the group walked down nearby railroad tracks, and her companions were drinking beer and smoking marijuana.

At some point, she said, she decided to go home because she was cold. Ms. Wilson said she and Ms. Colon began walking away from the others when she heard a noise, turned, and saw Mr. Colon throw a rock that struck Mr. Gibeault in the face. Mr. Gibeault was drunk at the time, according to Ms. Wilson.

“He went right down to the ground,” she said of Mr. Gibeault. Ms. Wilson told the jury Mr. Colon proceeded to throw four or five more rocks at Mr. Gibeault, who was in a fetal position on the ground pleading with Mr. Colon to stop.

When asked by the prosecutor if she could describe the manner in which Mr. Colon was throwing the rocks, Ms. Wilson said he was “whipping them like a pitcher for the Yankees.”

“What happened next?” Mr. Bennett asked.

“I said, ‘I’m out of here,’ ” Ms. Wilson responded.

As she and Ms. Colon were walking away, she said, she saw Mr. Cruz, whose name she did not know at the time, handing a backpack to Mr. Colon.

In his opening statement in the case, Mr. Bennett said he intended to produce evidence showing that Mr. Colon used a knife belonging to Mr. Cruz to stab Mr. Gibeault four times.

An autopsy determined that Mr. Gibeault died as a result of head trauma and multiple stab wounds.

On the night of July 23, 2005, Mr. Colon telephoned Ms. Colon and told her he had killed Mr. Gibeault, Mr. Bennett told the jury in his opening. He said Mr. Colon related to his cousin that Mr. Gibeault managed to get to his feet at some point and that he picked up a large rock and smashed Mr. Gibeault in the head with it.

A large rock that sat on the prosecution table as Mr. Bennett addressed the jury was found within 5 feet of Mr. Gibeault’s head and had the victim’s blood on it, according to Mr. Bennett. The prosecutor said Mr. Colon also told his former girlfriend, Marinely Rivera, that he killed Mr. Gibeault and threatened to kill Ms. Rivera and her brother if she told anyone.

Mr. Colon’s lawyer, Calvin C. Carr, suggested to the jury in his opening statement that Mr. Cruz may have been Mr. Gibeault’s killer and said Mr. Cruz made statements implicating himself in the crime.

Mr. Carr described his client as a “liar” and “braggart” who “wants to be the tough guy, the top dog” and has been known to take the blame for the actions of others. The defense lawyer also said he expected the evidence to show that the statements of prosecution witnesses in the case “all vary” and that the police investigation into Mr. Gibeault’s death was flawed.

Ms. Rivera testified later in the day that Mr. Colon told her July 23, 2005, that he had killed Mr. Gibeault and had done it for her.

Ms. Rivera, who said she had previously broken off her weeks-long relationship with Mr. Colon, testified that she “told him there was no us.” She said Mr. Colon then warned her not to say anything to anyone and “threatened my sibling.”

Under questioning by Mr. Bennett, Ms. Rivera said she related her conversation with Mr. Colon to Dudley police when questioned by them.

Under cross-examination by Mr. Carr, Ms. Rivera acknowledged that she was not present when Mr. Gibeault was killed and had no way of knowing whether the admission Mr. Colon allegedly made to her was true.

She also agreed with Mr. Carr’s suggestion that Mr. Colon had a tendency to “exaggerate” in an effort to build himself up.